Rotarian Rebecca Baker

All Walks of Life

For Rotarian Rebecca Baker, a global pandemic is no reason not to continue serving her community.

Rebecca Baker

Rotarians around the world represent every imaginable background, ethnicity, and skill set. Many Rotarians own businesses and run for public offices, but just as many are builders, architects, designers, medical professionals – and the list goes on.

Rebecca Baker falls in the latter category. She joined Rotary Club of Highlands Mountaintop in fall of 2020. While it may not have appeared to be an opportune time to dive into volunteerism, due to an ongoing pandemic that called for social distancing, Baker was not deterred.

She was drawn to becoming a Rotarian for the very reasons that pique the interest and admiration of others: “I was incredibly impressed with the mission of Rotary and the philanthropic work in this community and the world,” said Baker, a nurse practitioner in Highlands who owns, with her husband, Dr. Scott Baker, a small family practice office in Highlands called Baker Family Practice.

A 25-year, full-time resident of Highlands, Baker said, “I have been so impressed with the Covid vaccination initiative in Highlands by member Robin Austin.”

Another Rotarian passion of hers is Rotary’s polio eradication program, as well as the clean water initiative worldwide. As she has become involved, she said she would like to see more young professionals involved. “I think people may think that we are all older and retired and male,” she noted. “We have some dynamic young working women who are still raising their children. We have many different life perspectives, but we are all interested in community and/or world service.” Rotarians have in-person and Zoom …but we are all meeting options, and meetings typically interested in community last one hour. Added Baker, “We also have and/or world service. many opportunities for volunteer service throughout the week and on weekends, such as the Arts and Crafts Fair and trash pickup. As the co-chair of the membership committee, I want to let people know we are also planning some really fun get-togethers for 2021-2022.” To learn more about Rotary Club of Highlands-Mountaintop, call (828) 526-2858 or send a message through the club’s Facebook page. by Deena Bouknight

Welcoming All Patients

The opening of Blue Ridge Health – Highlands Cashiers in the Jane Woodruff Clinic Building on the campus of Highlands-Cashiers Hospital vastly expands the health care options available on the Plateau.

The Oxford Dictionary definition of “Common Good” is an act or service that is done for the benefit and/or interest of all.

This month, the Plateau’s new health center, Blue Ridge Health – Highlands Cashiers, opens with two new doctors, and a full support staff, welcoming all patients.

The opening of the health center, over a year in the making, is a true example of how an organization can achieve common good for the community it serves.

The new health center will be located on the second floor of the Jane Woodruff Clinic on the Highlands-Cashiers Hospital campus. Drs. Davis and Fincher will see all patients from infants to seniors and everyone in between, offering a full spectrum of primary care services including chronic disease management, treatment for acute illnesses and minor injuries, women’s services, sports medicine, physical exams, health screenings and healthy lifestyle and nutrition programs.

An innovative component is also being woven into the fabric of the new health center. In collaboration with Mountain Area Health Education Center, BRH – HC will become a Rural Teaching Practice where UNC School of Medicine students, MAHEC Residents, and many others will become acquainted with our unique community while providing quality primary care during their rural rotations.

With only 3 percent of North Carolina’s primary care physician graduates choosing to practice in rural locations, and the challenges that arise from being in a rural, mountainous location, the Rural Teaching Practice enhances the long-term success of recruiting physicians to our area to practice, live and fall in love with our treasured mountain community.

Putting together this collaborative, dynamic program involves a substantial financial commitment. In order for BRH – HC to open and become established, the foundation knew that we needed to invest in the common good for our community. However, we can’t do this alone.

With generous donor support, BRH – HC will provide a robust array of health services benefitting full-time, seasonal and visiting families across our Plateau for generations to come.

So, please, join us in Lifting Health and Well-being, because together, we can truly make a difference! For more information on how you can help, visit hchealthfnd.org today!

by Ashlie Mitchell-Lanning Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation

If you’re like most of us among Laurel’s readership, you’re plowing through this Busy Season like a gravel-laden dump truck rumbling down the Cullasaja Gorge. Perhaps your calendar is filled with visits of friends and family from far away. Maybe you need to make dinner reservations at your favorite restaurant way in advance. And perhaps your plans to stop at a Main Street boutique to buy a gift end up taking an extra 10 minutes because you just couldn’t find a close parking place.

But allow us to explain why these complications and minor vexations are actually good news for all of us living and working here.

We at the Highlands Chamber, dba Visit Highlands, NC, are of course aware of these summertime issues.

But that’s a good thing because Highlands has been welcoming visitors since its establishment in 1875 because tourism has provided economic growth and sustainability for residents to have a quality life part time or year-round.

Young Strategies’s calculations estimate that total visitor spending in Highlands is $64,102,083 per year. This visitor spending generates local North Carolina sales tax of 2 percent for our town government. The Highlands Chamber of Commerce dba Visit Highlands, NC, receives a portion of the occupancy tax, also paid by visitors, from Macon County.

In FY 2019/20 we received $866,064 from Macon County. That is a lot of money!

Our Board of Directors has approved the budget for fiscal year 2021-22. We want you to know how our budget for occupancy tax benefits the Town of Highlands and its residents. 20 percent will go to local nonprofits; 19 percent provides all of Highlands with free events. We also hire local and regional musicians for entertainment/gatherings, thus generating jobs; 18 percent supports marketing inspired by a new marketing firm that is focused on months when resident and visitor populations are reduced, thus generating an economy to keep Highlands open year-round; 14 percent goes to staff – again, jobs for local residents; 7 percent is allotted to contractors, once more, increasing jobs for local residents; 7 percent provides technology platform expenses, including new and upgraded website development, video, initiatives and campaigns for the off-season, and online communications, keeping you and visitors informed; 5 percent is used for the Welcome Center, which serves residents and visitors; 5 percent is used for traditional media buys. It keeps residents and visitors informed through newspapers, magazines, radio, and our annual publications. And guess what? More local jobs; 4 percent goes to administrative expenses;

And 1 percent is used for branding and PR.

The Board of Directors and Staff directing Visit Highlands, NC, are using Macon County Occupancy Taxes as legislated. We purposefully plan quality-of-life improvement for our residents, while striving for a sustainable year-round economy through visitor management.

A couple of months of crowded parking (which translates to more spenders) provides funding for Town Government, Local Nonprofits, Local Employment, Communication to Residents and Visitors, Events such as Outdoor Concerts, Fireworks, Parades, Light up the Park, Halloween, and much more.

So, think of it as exercising when you need to park a little further away. You’re building strength in your body and your town. For more info, visit highlandschamber.org.

The Benefit of Busy Streets

Think Parking is Such Street Sorrow? Crowded streets and sidewalks benefit all Highlands residents.

Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Visit Highlands NC

Time to Reconnect on the Plateau

It’s official – The Summer Cashiers Experience is back on the calendar.

Shop. Dine. Stay. Play!

Cashiers and nearby Highlands are springing into summer amid relaxing health restrictions, vibrant blue skies and abundant blooming flowers. After months of social distancing, many families and friends are now gathering – within the continued safety protocols – to celebrate on the Plateau.

July marks the return of the Village Green’s Joy Garden Tour in Cashiers. New this year will be the Village Crawl an extended shopping event launched by the Cashiers Area Chamber Retail Roundtable in coordination with the bi-annual garden tour.

The public is invited to enjoy evening shopping hours of 5:00. to 7:00 P.M. on Friday, July 16. Many of the participating upscale apparel, home and gift, and specialty boutiques near the Cashiers Crossroads, the intersection of US 64 and NC 107, will offer a gardenthemed purchase premium to complement Joy Garden festivities.

Live music also will be featured in various venues of the Village Green from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Ample and convenient parking is available on Frank Allen Road.

Concerts on the Common will be held mid-July to October in lieu of the traditional summer Groovin’ on the Green music series on the Village Green lawn.

For more information, visit Cashiers411.com, the online community calendar for events in Cashiers, Glenville, Sapphire, Lake, Toxaway and Highlands.

by Stephanie Edwards, Executive Director, Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce

New Brokers at Silver Creek Real Estate Group

Silver Creek Real Estate Group has added a pair of brokers to handle a booming Plateau real estate market. For more information, visit ncliving.com.

Kirsten Kohl Jodi Moore

Silver Creek Real Estate Group, a leading real estate firm on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau, has added two new brokers, Kirsten Kohl and Jodi Moore.

“We give careful consideration to who will be a good fit for our team,” says company president Jochen Lucke. “Kirsten and Jodi both have a proven track record of successful sales careers and fostering quality relationships. By utilizing Silver Creek’s powerful marketing platform, they will be able to even better serve their clients in Burlingame, Lake Toxaway, and across the HighlandsCashiers Plateau.”

Jodi Moore began her real estate career in Palm Beach County, Florida, in 1999 with Prudential Florida WCI Realty, where she was an award-winning residential agent beginning with her first year. Prior to working in real estate, she was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a consumer product company for nine years, during which time the company’s sales grew by nearly 400 percent.

She and her family became full-time residents of Cashiers in 2008 after visiting the area and falling in love with the mountain lifestyle. Moore’s strengths lie in her sales and marketing skills and the ability to work with a diversified group of people, as well as her passion for real estate.

After attending college in Helsingor, Denmark, and Virginia Commonwealth University, Kirsten Kohl enjoyed a successful sales and marketing career in the hearing health field starting with Siemens Hearing Instruments. Shortly after a move to Swiss-based Bernafon AG, Kohl was responsible for five states as the Southeastern Regional Sales Manager.

In 2011, Kohl and her husband bought a home in Sapphire, so they could spend more time and eventually retire there. Now Kohl shares her love of people and her love of Western North Carolina by helping others achieve their dreams of a home in the mountains.

Silver Creek Real Estate Group specializes in real estate in Cashiers, Highlands, Sapphire Valley, Lake Glenville, Lake Toxaway and Bear Lake, NC, as well as larger properties in the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains.

To learn more about Silver Creek Real Estate Group and its brokers, visit ncliving.com.

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